Sacrifices Made
by Wingleader Sora Jade
Summary: Wufei and Duo, trapped in a collapsed building, have a little man-to-man chat. *non-yaoi* Fluffy friendship instead. ^^ Duo has a breakdown and Wufei attempts to give him a pep talk.


Sacrifices Made 

by WSJ < p>Trapped together in a collapsed warehouse, Duo and Wufei have a man-to-man talk about the meaning of life, as well as sacrifices they each made for the war. *NOT YAOI!!!* (But there is slight DMxHS) 

I don't own GW. 

()()()()() 

As the thick dust settled, one sound broke through the silence. Someone coughing. Gagging followed, and a muffled voice called out "Wu-man? Is that you?" 

The coughing continued for a monet before the Chinese Preventor was able to answer. "It's me. What happened?" 

"The bakas set a bomb and collapsed part of the warehouse on top of us, apparently. I'm stuck under a big pile of ceiling." his temporary partner said. 

There was silence for a moment. "That's not good, I'm trapped too, from the waist down." Wufei said, chewing on his lower lip and trying to shift some of the rubble off of himself. It was no use however, and suddenly he became aware of a dull throbbing in his legs. "Duo? I think I broke something." 

The American pilot's voice took on a slight note of concern. "Anything serious?" 

"I'm not sure, I can't move anything because I'm pinned under these rocks." he hesitated slightly, then asked "Are _you_ ok Duo?" 

"Yeah yeah, fine. Let's hope that Heero and the others can finish off the bad guys and get us out of here." 

The dust from the explosion and ensuing collapse was beginning to subside, and Wufei could make out dim piles of boards and debris here and there. It was still nighttime, and through the broken roof he could glimpse a few stars and whispy clouds. 

"Hey Wu, where are you?" 

"Don't call me Wu." Wufei grabbed a small stone and tossed it into the air. "Here." 

"Ah." Duo said, but didn't offer his location in return. After a moment he said "Wufei, is it really worth it?" 

The 05 pilot blinked. "What do you mean?" 

"Well, all the sacrifices we have to make. Is it really worth it, just for a few years of peace before the next war? And what about all the lives that are lost? It doesn't matter if they fought for 'good' or 'bad', they're still dead. Is it worth it for them?" 

Wufei was shocked that the normally happy-go-lucky pilot was being so synical and angsty. "Of course it is! We fight because it's honorable, because peace is something every man longs for! There's no such thing as fighting for the sake of fighting, except for maybe Dorothy. The sacrifices made are made so we can attain peace, so we won't have to fight in the future!" 

Duo chuckled dryly. "You sound like Relena. But peace doesn't last, does it? I think Marimea said it best: history is an endless waltz. After peace comes war, and war _always_ follows peace. It's human nature. So the sacrifices are soon irrelevent and those soldiers died without a cause because _peace never lasts!_" 

Wufei felt his blood boil and he wished he could run over and shake Duo out of this depressive mood. "What is with you today Maxwell? Peace may not last, but its better then endless war! Is that what you want? Eternal damnation by way of endless fighting? That just brings about even _more_ unnecessary deaths." 

Duo was silent for a moment. "Let me tell you something Wufei. My past is _riddled_ with unnecessary deaths. My parents were killed in an OZ attack when I was barely two. No one wanted me, so I was sent out onto the streets. There another orphan by the name of Solo took me under his wing. Then came the L2 Plauge and Solo died. I never came down with the Plauge for reasons I still don't know. That's when I took my name, Duo, because Solo promised he'd always be with me. After that I was taken in by the Maxwell Church, and I took my last name, Maxwell. But little more then two months later I was out on an errand and the church was bombed, killing the rest of my orphan friends, as well as Father Maxwell and Sister Helen. So don't you dare talk to me about 'unnecessary deaths'." 

Wufei was slightly taken aback. "Duo... I, I didn't know..." 

"Of course you didn't." Duo said bitterly, his voice weary. It seemed like in that moment he was a lot older then just eighteen. "I never told anyone." 

Wufei stayed silent, musing to himself. Duo was a lot more then just a smile and a braid. Wufei tended to forget that, especially when chasing him around with a katana held at ready. Duo was always cracking a joke or playing one, and it was easy to forget that he was a soldier. And just because he'd never told anyone else his past, it was easy to think that he'd never suffered a loss. 

But... Now that Wufei thought of it, on certain days, certain times, you'd find Duo with his mask part-way off, looking out the window or staring into space. There would be shadows in his eyes, and a gleam that suggested he'd seen so much more then he let on. 

"Wufei," Duo's voice broke the silence. "What is it you live for?" 

"Me?" he asked, surprised. 

He senced Duo nodding. "The war's over, we're technically not soldiers anymore. So what do you live for? Heero has protecting Relena, Quatre has his sisters and his father's business, Trowa has the circus. What do you live for?" 

Wufei had to think about that for a moment. "Justice." he said at last, and continued before Duo could snort or say anything. "I live to uphold the peace. Yes, history is an endless waltz and yes, there will be more wars. But I've taken it upon myself to make the peace last as long as I can, which is why I'm a Preventor." 

Duo's answer was soft, almost meek. "I don't know _what_ I live for. The junk dealership, sure. Hilde, of course. But what else do I have? The rest of you have these huge, noble causes and big big dreams. I don't have any of that. All _I_ have is a shattered past with an uncertain future." 

Wufei was rendered speechless for a moment. "Duo, you _do_ have so so much! Like you mentioned, you have Hilde! You can't leave her. And you have us, me and Heero and Quatre and Trowa, we're your friends. And you've got the entire world to protect! You just can't say you have nothing to live for!" His voice grew a bit gentler. "Or if that's too much, what about the street orphans like yourself? Who takes care of them? _You_ do Duo, I've seen you. And the church. I've _seen_ you pray and I _know_ you still wear that cross. You have so much Duo, dreams and hopes too. I overheard you tell Quatre once that you dreamed about there being no orphans that have to live on the street, but have homes instead. That's a dream Duo, and you can make it happen, I know you can. Honor Solo's memory, tell his story to others. If you two truly are a duo then get together and do something for the good of mankind!" 

Wufei was suddenly interrupted by a chuckle. "You sound like a priest Wufei, you really do." 

Before anything else could be said or discussed a bright light was shown in Wufei's eyes and he heard a familiar voice yell "Over here guys! I found Wufei!" Quatre turned back to his injured friend and began to move the rocks off him as Heero, Trowa and Zechs came running up. 

"Where's Duo?" Heero asked. 

"Over here Hee-man!" the braided ex-pilot yelled. 

Trowa and Heero ran over to find him as Zechs and Quatre continued to push rocks off Wufei. A moment later he was free and Zechs helped him stand and let him lean on him so he wouldn't put weight on his injured leg that was, in fact, broken. Quatre went to help Trowa and Heero with Duo. 

There was a sudden gasp and a whispered "My god Duo..." Then the four emerged from behind an especially big pile of rubble, Duo being half carried, half dragged between Trowa and Heero. 

The American was much, much worse off then Wufei. He was bloodied and bruised all over, and there was a huge gash across his chest and another down the right side of his face. He looked up slightly, his violet eyes clouded with pain, but smiled slightly when he saw Wufei was pretty much okay. 

"You lied!" Wufei accused, horrified. "You said you were fine!" 

"I am!" Duo attempted to stand on his own, but his legs collapsed under him, forsing Trowa to bodily pick him up and carry him out of the ruins of the warehouse and into the waiting ambulance. 

As the Latin 03 pilot passed Zechs and Wufei, Duo looked up and Wufei could see his eyes filled with gratitude. "Thanks Wu." he said softly so the others wouldn't hear. 

Time seemed to stop and for a moment it looked to Wufei that Duo's eyes flashed golden, but it was probably just a trick of the dim lighting. 

Time started again. 

The Chinese teen didn't say anything in return, because he didn't need to. 

()()()()() 

What do you think? ^_^ Personnaly, I like it. The part about Duo's eyes being golden is a reference to him being a "duo" with Solo, because it's generally agreed that Solo's eyes were golden-brown colored. 

Comments will be sent to yamatos_fangirl@hotmail.com or thewildeagleismine@hotmail.com 

Ja ne and God bless! 


End file.
